Written on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 1:38pm by Mark | 7 Comments

This is Buffalo, this is Buffalo on drugs…

I’ve seen this graphic on the internets a few times, and it came up again today on BuffaloRising. Good stuff.

I’m not sure who came up with it but I assume its what some planners see as an ideal Buffalo and not an actual Buffalo…ever.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but lets make some sense out of this graphic.

-The public infrastructure changes are somewhat possible but highly unlikely. Where will the money come from to make the 190 at-grade or below ground level? Where will the money come from for an underground Amtrak tunnel? Where will the money come from to tear down the City Court Ramp, the Convention Center (and therefore build a new one), and return Genesee Street to its original design?

-Why are all these skyscrapers in the CBD? Nothing about Buffalo’s economy suggests a boom in CBD office buildings. There is a legitimate future for some serious office development in the northern end of downtown because of the potential success of the Medical Campus but the CBD? Don’t think so.

-So after observing the evolution of the Buffalo skyline over the course of 200 years, the next century provides us dozens of skyscrapers that dwarf City Hall even though we are entering a wireless society that renders central business districts and tall office buildings almost obsolete? Getting City Tower will be a huge achievement unto itself-getting dozens of legitimately tall buildings-thats a whole other animal.

Planners are optimistic by nature but come on. A realistic view would have the street grid partially brought back to Ellicott’s intentions, modest 10-20 story building filling in a respectable amount of the many surface lots in the CBD.

Dealing with the 190 and making the Waterfront less of a gated community will be near impossible as Waterfront Village continues construction on more anti-social housing and as NYS gets into higher and higher debt with no fundamental changes in the business climate in sight-seeing the 190 go down is quite a pipe dream.

I’m barking up the wrong tree here, but I know that there are a lot of people who woke up this morning, saw this graphic on BRO and said to themselves; “Yup! We are truly witnessing a renaissance!”

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7 Comments

  1. Denizen says:
    December 17, 2007 at 2:34 pm

    You did a pretty good analysis of this crackpipe planning. Though, I’d say 5-8 story buildings would be an even more realistic hope of filling in the asphalt gaps. Even 10-20 story buildings require a lot of economic brawn to muster.

  2. Buffalo Blood Donor says:
    December 17, 2007 at 5:40 pm

    Your title says it all.

    I guess politicians are not elected, and consultants are not paid to be realists.

    BBD

  3. wcp says:
    December 17, 2007 at 7:12 pm

    “Yup! We are truly witnessing a renaissance!”

    Not sure if more than two people thought that…but I’m sure a great many said, “If only….” If Buffalo can support one ’skyscraper’ every twenty years, then this is the 200 year plan.

  4. Andrew Kulyk says:
    December 17, 2007 at 10:54 pm

    What exactly is so magical about Genesee that it has to be some wide promenade taking people from the water’s edge to the airport without interruption?

    Other than that, your analysis hits all the points correctly. There will never be a demand for all this office space, and quite frankly, the onus should now be on attracting residential development, with neighborhood services retail that will surely follow once a critical mass is achieved.

    Lastly, the 190 was rehabbed and redecked over a decade ago from the Ogden tolls all the way to Grand Island… THAT would have been the time to talk about bringing the highway to grade downtown. Nice concept, but not realistic given today’s realities.

    Fun to look at this stuff though eh?

  5. Young says:
    December 18, 2007 at 12:25 am

    hey, i was just woundering what is going on with Issa’s tower, i have been out of town at school for a few month and have not heard anything. So if any one has any information, i would like to hear how thing are progressing Thanks

  6. N says:
    December 19, 2007 at 7:25 pm

    Genesse is the only Ellicott-designed arterial that can conceivably connect the street grid with Lake Erie. This would be any urban planner’s wet dream. Imagine if there was a public promenade and a water fountain in the water at the foot of Genesse. And standing there you could view the McKinley monument and Niagara Square, and beyond you could see all of the hustle and bustle of Genesse Street and the near-east side.

  7. STEEL says:
    December 20, 2007 at 9:57 am

    There is value in dreaming. Before explorers sailed across the ocean it was an impossible mission. If these dreamers did not dream the world would still be flat. One of Buffalo’s problems is that it stopped dreaming.

    This is not an image of what Buffalo could be. It is an image of what Buffalo should already be. If it wakes someone up about the stupidity holding Buffalo down it will have been a very productive exercise.

    As far as what buffalo can still be I would rather see all those towers brought down to a dens midrise scale that would fill buffalo’s streets and return the urban continuity that has been lost.

 

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